The Immediate Effects of a Combined Mass Drug Administration and Indoor Residual Spraying Campaign to Accelerate Progress Toward Malaria Elimination in Grande-Anse, Haiti.

BACKGROUND: Haiti is planning targeted interventions to accelerate progress toward malaria elimination. In the most affected department (Grande-Anse), a combined mass drug administration (MDA) and indoor residual spraying (IRS) campaign was launched in October 2018. This study assessed the intervention's effectiveness in reducing Plasmodium falciparum prevalence. METHODS: An ecological quasi-experimental study was designed, using a pretest and posttest with a nonrandomized control group. Surveys were conducted in November 2017 in a panel of easy access groups (25 schools and 16 clinics) and were repeated 2-6 weeks after the campaign, in November 2018. Single-dose sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine and primaquine was used for MDA, and pirimiphos-methyl as insecticide for IRS. RESULTS: A total of 10 006 participants were recruited. Fifty-two percent of the population in the intervention area reported having received MDA. Prevalence diminished between 2017 and 2018 in both areas, but the reduction was significantly larger in the intervention area (ratio of adjusted risk ratios, 0.32 [95% confidence interval, .104-.998]). CONCLUSIONS: Despite a moderate coverage, the campaign was effective in reducing P. falciparum prevalence immediately after 1 round. Targeted MDA plus IRS is useful in preelimination settings to rapidly decrease the parasite reservoir, an encouraging step to accelerate progress toward malaria elimination.

Investigation of Four Cases of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome among Participants in a Mass Drug Administration Campaign with Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine and Primaquine in Haiti, 2020.

In 2018, a mass drug administration (MDA) campaign for malaria elimination was piloted in Haiti. The pilot treated 36,338 people with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) and primaquine; no severe adverse events were detected. In 2020, another MDA campaign using the same medications was implemented to mitigate an upsurge in malaria cases during the COVID-19 pandemic. Four cases of Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) were identified among the 42,249 people who took the medications. Three of these individuals required hospitalization; all survived. In addition to SP ingestion, an investigation of potential causes for increased SJS cases identified that all four cases had human leukocyte antigens A*29 and/or B*44:03, another known risk factor for SJS. Additionally, three of the four case individuals had antibodies to SARS-CoV-2, and the fourth may have been exposed around the same time. These findings raise the possibility that recent SARS-CoV-2 infection may have contributed to the increased risk for SJS associated with SP exposure during the 2020 campaign.

Impact of malaria diagnostic choice on monitoring of Plasmodium falciparum prevalence estimates in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and relevance to control programs in high-burden countries.

Malaria programs rely upon a variety of diagnostic assays, including rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), microscopy, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and bead-based immunoassays (BBA), to monitor malaria prevalence and support control and elimination efforts. Data comparing these assays are limited, especially from high-burden countries like the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Using cross-sectional and routine data, we compared diagnostic performance and Plasmodium falciparum prevalence estimates across health areas of varying transmission intensity to illustrate the relevance of assay performance to malaria control programs. Data and samples were collected between March-June 2018 during a cross-sectional household survey across three health areas with low, moderate, and high transmission intensities within Kinshasa Province, DRC. Samples from 1,431 participants were evaluated using RDT, microscopy, PCR, and BBA. P. falciparum parasite prevalence varied between diagnostic methods across all health areas, with the highest prevalence estimates observed in Bu (57.4-72.4% across assays), followed by Kimpoko (32.6-53.2%), and Voix du Peuple (3.1-8.4%). Using latent class analysis to compare these diagnostic methods against an "alloyed gold standard," the most sensitive diagnostic method was BBA in Bu (high prevalence) and Voix du Peuple (low prevalence), while PCR diagnosis was most sensitive in Kimpoko (moderate prevalence). RDTs were consistently the most specific diagnostic method in all health areas. Among 9.0 million people residing in Kinshasa Province in 2018, the estimated P. falciparum prevalence by microscopy, PCR, and BBA were nearly double that of RDT. Comparison of malaria RDT, microscopy, PCR, and BBA results confirmed differences in sensitivity and specificity that varied by endemicity, with PCR and BBA performing best for detecting any P. falciparum infection. Prevalence estimates varied widely depending on assay type for parasite detection. Inherent differences in assay performance should be carefully considered when using community survey and surveillance data to guide policy decisions.